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The Vision iNext concept is a small crossover, which should have more mass appeal than the i3 and i8.

BMW

It's an attractive thing, but some of the more dramatic design details are likely to get watered down to survive into production.

BMW

The huge kidney grill now conceals the forward-looking sensors needed for self-driving.

BMW

A design sketch of the iNext.

BMW

BMW flew the concept to Frankfurt, New York, San Francisco, and Beijing, then back to Munich.

BMW

The Vision iNext being loaded onto the cargo plane.

BMW

NEW YORK—You have to hand it to BMW. Our first look at its new Vision iNext concept car—a production version of which arrives in 2021—was certainly memorable. I've seen concepts unveiled at auto shows and at design studios, but this was definitely the first time I've seen one introduced in the belly of a Boeing 777F parked under a cover at Kennedy Airport in New York. Ars was invited to get up close and personal with the iNext, which is an important vehicle for BMW. When the production version goes on sale in 2021, it will be the first use the company's new vehicle architecture and its first long-range battery electric vehicle.

BMW says we can think of the iNext as "Project i 2.0," Project i being the sub-brand that has given us the rather good i3 and the sublime i8. But let's be honest: both of those EVs served rather limited niches; a crossover is always going to have mass appeal. And so a crossover is what we have; one with bold styling and some thoughtful ideas for the future of UI, UX, and interior cabin design that BMW will hopefully iterate into production.

Further Reading

But let's be clear: the Vision iNext is still a concept car, and all it takes is a walk through BMW's museum to see that a lot of cute concept details end up on the cutting-room floor between the design studio and the showroom.

It looks dramatic

The front of the Vision is dominated by a massive "butterfly"-covered kidney grill. EVs don't need big front air intakes, but these corporate styling cues are now proving an ideal place to conceal the sensors necessary for autonomous driving, and BMW is running with it. The headlights are an extremely stylized version of the marque's traditional four-eye look and are embedded into a strip of belt line that separates the hood from the wings.

The Vision is most handsome in profile, with a two-box outline that's reminiscent of the new Volvo XC40. The touch-sensitive suicide doors make access to the interior a charm; the fact we all still call them suicide doors may be a marketing challenge, but it's one BMW has already tackled with the i3. As the doors open—and in common with the previous i cars—you can see parts of the iNext's naked carbon-fiber passenger cell.

Some of the more dramatic elements of the exterior design seem likely to change before 2021, though. Cameras instead of wing mirrors are a good idea as it significantly cuts wind noise—most noticeable in a battery EV with near-silent propulsion—but require some regulation changes in the US and abroad. And the prominent rear diffuser—complete with electroluminescent blue highlights on the trailing edge—looks great in a mood-lit cargo hold, but it also looks like the first point of contact for a rear-ender.

The interior makes a statement

The interior had some wonderful design details. I loved the way the pedals retract into the floor.

BMW

The display screens stand on elegant legs like expensive TVs.

BMW

The steering wheel retracts towards the dash when self-driving is engaged.

BMW

The "shy tech" UI is embedded underneath the fabric of the rear bench.

BMW

Center console or coffee table?

BMW

BMW says it was inspired by modern living rooms and boutique hotels. We don't doubt that.

BMW

BMW

Suicide doors make for easy entry and exit.

BMW

If you look at the interior and think "boutique hotel," congratulations: that was the look BMW's interior-design team was going for. The two displays stand proud of the dash like expensive flatscreen TVs. The center console takes this idea even further; its surface is a mix of wood and a turquoise jacquard carpet that's also used to upholster the rear bench seat. On the underside, a crystal bowl plays storage cubby.

User interfaces are concealed underneath fabrics or surface treatments in what BMW calls "shy tech." Touch sensors just underneath the rear seat fabric detect your finger's input and leave light trails; BMW imagines using user-defined gesture controls like touches, swipes, and drawing shapes or glyphs to interact with the infotainment system, and instead of display screens for rear passengers, there's an intelligent beam projector that can display an interface onto physical objects. (BMW demonstrated this with a book.) As well as that touch-based interaction, the iNext features an onboard personal AI assistant, which BMW says should ideally be able anticipate most of what you want to do even before you ask it.

We first heard about a new BMW called the iNext in 2016. That's when the company announced it was partnering with Intel and Mobileye to work on such a vehicle, which would be autonomous and go on sale in 2021. That still appears to be the plan; if the hidden sensors weren't a clue, the retracting steering wheel and pedals should be. BMW told me that it is planning to launch the iNext with level 3 autonomy. Interestingly, this bucks the industry trend of skipping this kind of conditional self-driving because it runs the greatest risk of mode confusion. And even when level 4 systems become practical, the idea is still to sell them as options on customer cars, not run a fleet of robo-taxis.

As with the Volvo 360c we looked at earlier this week, it's hard to judge much of what I saw. The UX demos were definitely thought-provoking, but none seemed mature enough to be on sale within the next three years. Likewise, the self-driving stuff still has a way to go before it's ready for deployment. And we're still too far from production for BMW to comment on the stuff I do want to know about, like the batteries, motor output, and range.

The steering wheel looks unusable (cue jokes about BMW's current dead steering...), and the screens look functionally dreadful. It's like they looked at Tesla's awful interiors and decided to make theirs somehow worse.

it'll be interesting to see how it evolves as it gets closer to production - there do seem to be some rough edges and tweaking still to address.

the "suicide doors" thing shouldn't be a problem, the Honda Element and Rolls Royce seem to do fine... just needs a really good marketing campaign around a new term (and good placement in a Mission Impossible) and all will be good...

The steering wheel looks unusable (cue jokes about BMW's current dead steering...), and the screens look functionally dreadful. It's like they looked at Tesla's awful interiors and decided to make theirs somehow worse.

Also, touch controls...in the seat. Just what I want, to be rubbing my fingers where people sat.

Which the displays do at least look better than the laughably bad Mercedes' digital displays (where it looks like they took two old tablets with huge bezels and put them behind a big wide piece of glass - it looked outdated before it came out, and makes 80s digital dashes seem downright classy and sophisticated in comparison; and they put those not only in the S-Class, but their megabuck hypercar which just ached for a see through heads-up panel like from a fighter jet).

In defense of ugly car design, even a BMW i3 from 2014 doesn't look dated. This design is jarring and ugly, but it will retain a timeless quality for some time to come, unlike, say, the Commuta Car of the late 70's and early 80's that looks like a giant wedge of cheese.

I don't know who their target audience is with this. Definitely not Germany (or Switzerland where I am). Sounds like Americans won't like it either. China? Russians? Or maybe it's just a design targeted for car reviewers and car magazines.

In defense of ugly car design, even a BMW i3 from 2014 doesn't look dated. This design is jarring and ugly, but it will retain a timeless quality for some time to come, unlike, say, the Commuta Car of the late 70's and early 80's that looks like a giant wedge of cheese.

The i3 looks better than this (and I thought it looked ok, if weird from the outset, so it still looking ok if weird is fine; that means this will likely look just as ugly in production). This is like an elongated i3 with giant rabbit teeth grille. Granted the i3 does have a bit of the toupee look I'm not a fan of, I'm not keen on the blacked out hood and glass covered blacked out rear hatch, and I think the side glass is poorly overstyled (but this will likely be as bad in that regard in production). Did BMW let Chris Bangle take over again? Or maybe his young son? "No, make it look more like a robot Squirrel!"

This has almost all of the worst bits of modern car design (just missing a poorly painted blacked out a-pillar to give it a "floating roof" toupee), with very little to none of the good ones.

I kinda like it. As far as I'm concerned, the design is really not much more "out there" than more recent Prius models, or Lexus or even some plain Toyotas. Hated that at first, but it has grown on me in the last couple of years.

it'll be interesting to see how it evolves as it gets closer to production - there do seem to be some rough edges and tweaking still to address.

the "suicide doors" thing shouldn't be a problem, the Honda Element and Rolls Royce seem to do fine... just needs a really good marketing campaign around a new term (and good placement in a Mission Impossible) and all will be good...

One of the rough edges and tweaking I had to question was whether or not BMW even as a functional AV anywhere. If they do, I've not seen any word about it.

As for this, I know it'll have to change because the sensors are all forward-viewing (in the grill, apparently) whereas a functional AV will need sensors mounted in places that let it see to the sides and back. I didn't see any apparent places to mount those, unless they're hidden in those lines that extend back from the headlights.

I tend to look at concept cars with a very jaded eye. From what I've ever seen (and it's not a huge sample size, but others bear it out), a concept car is essentially eye-candy for investors, and a bit of a public PR tease, but what you end up getting as a production model in the very rare cases where a concept car even gets to production is always vastly different than the initial concept car design.

Especially for speculative concepts like this and that Volvo with the sleeping berths and desk inside it from yesterday.

As it gets closer to production, it tends to become more "down to earth" and look a lot different both outside and in, and also tends to have more realistic features. So I don't really give too much credence to seeing a concept car design make it to the road with all of the styles/features highlighted in the concept car intact.

This one's ugly, but then, given the abundance of ugliness in concept cars recently, that does seem to be the trend. I expect it'll get prettier as it gets closer to a production model.

I thought I was done complaining about it, but look how many design elements in this car appear poised to become deadly projectiles in an accident. The dash screen itself is ready to impale you in an accident.

This is a student design project designed specifically to impress student designers. And morning talk show hosts.

"Good news! Our new SUV doesn't run on fossil fuels. We did, however, just burn a shitload of jet fuel to bring one here to show you. Our bad!"

What do you think how other concept cars are transported? I doubt they are shipped by sea - that's for production vehicles.

The only difference is that with this method, they saved on unloading and ground transport. It might actually be more fuel efficient for that reason.

Except for those they probably aren't flying a single plane for each and every one of them. This seemed to have been the only cargo for this jet. They even refit the interior to show it off.

Granted, I don't know that BMW claimed they were making electric cars for environmental purposes, but its weirdly over the top. I'd think it was weird if it was for a megabuck hypercar like Bugatti, and it seems especially weird for this. Now if they were showing off like a lineup (like 3+), sure, but for a single mediocre concept, a bit much. Perhaps in the future they will have a lineup of cars to jet around and showoff so it won't seem as frivolous.

This has almost all of the worst bits of modern car design (just missing a poorly painted blacked out a-pillar to give it a "floating roof" toupee), with very little to none of the good ones.

I kinda like it. As far as I'm concerned, the design is really not much more "out there" than more recent Prius models, or Lexus or even some plain Toyotas. Hated that at first, but it has grown on me in the last couple of years.

That you're making a comparison to Toyota's modern insanely overstyled (and personally I find largely ugly) design is telling. Those vehicles haven't aged any better to me. They look every bit as ridiculous now as when they first came out to me. Especially compared to companies like Jaguar, Mazda, and some of the others where they've made sharp looking vehicles while also improving most of the other aspects.

But for a vehicle like the Prius, I get why other people hate its looks, but it doesn't bother me (other than the large blacked out C or D pillar) and I think even fits the vehicle (especially for the new one where Toyota was aiming to make it more dynamic).

I honestly am shocked that Lexus continues to sell well as I think they look awful and I'd think would be very off putting for the typical Lexus buyer. Its a testament to the quality of the car underneath (plus when you're driving you don't have to look at it) more than anything, I guess. But Lexus buyers to me are the people that left Cadillac because they didn't like their edgy bizarre styling a decade and half ago. Many of them were loyal to Cadillac for years and years too. Granted, they moved to Lexus not solely because of the looks, but Cadillac has improved in quality as well.

Gotta say, I much prefer the futuristic look of the Volvo concept car you presented just recently, where the sensors are integrated into the chassis in a much more elegant way than this monstrous front grill. That grill strikes me as a useless atavism, where form is not really dictated by function, but by some emotional adherence to a historically important car feature.

It took Lexus almost ten years to make the spindle grill look “right” (LC) and that was one design element. This thing is unspeakably ugly from every dimension. Chief designer needs to go back to industrial fittings, in my not-humble opinion. The i8 is a sexy, modern, futuristic halo car. This shares exactly nothing with it and manages to not even pay lip service to BMW’s long-standing tradition of moderate style.

I am absolutely amazed that they green-lit it. Even focus group design can’t screw something up this badly.

I came to this article with the preconception that a 2021 launch date meant they were dragging their heels. The Model S will be 9 years old by then, and their competitors are launching fullsize SUV's next year (with hype-building reveals now).

However I can see what they're trying to do. That is to build a car that positions itself for the 2020s and the transition to widespread level 3+ driving and a completely electric future. Right now that future isn't settled or static. It's important that they rethink what a vehicle is and contains, and get rid of legacy-elements that don't make sense in that context.

If this is the platform for their midsize vehicles going forward from then, it makes sense that they want to get it right.

Now, as for the design elements? The BMW i3 and i8 didn't really connect with customers in the way that the smooth lines of other vehicles do, and that's a problem. People get confused when lines are broken or start to go in other directions and if they repeat that they have a problem.

It's almost certain that a lot of what you see in this concept will get watered down and simplified. The interior will be a lot more conventional. Those silly wheels will come off. But the shape and some version of the electric kidneys will remain, and that's what they're signalling.

Edit:

It's the eyes. We're coded to read eye-like structures as signalling intention, and these look like a predatory animal which has focused its vision on a singular point. That doesn't sit well with a vehicle that's supposed to move you safely and comfortably. Making the headlights larger and more conventional, and making the "nose" more proportional to these would reduce the discomfort that many people experience when looking at this.

Damnit. With their experience in building good-looking, fun-to-drive cars, and their experience in electric cars gained from the i3 and i8, BMW would be perfectly positioned to compete with Tesla. And this is their answer?

Bad looks aside, this looks aerodynamically terrible. How is it that nobody among Tesla's competition has figured out that (i) aerodynamics translates to range, meaning less battery capacity, meaning cheaper cars (ii) you can make aerodynamic cars without them looking ugly and/or stupid?

And indeed, enough with these unusable rectangular steering weels already.

Crap like this annoys me so much. Even if it's just the design guys and no one thought to ask an engineer, you'd think that taking a moment to wonder why the basic shape of a wheel hasn't changed in decades would be worth it before pushing out something like this.

A yoke has a more squared design because it doesn't go past 90 degrees and rarely gets close to that anyway. A steering wheel does. And the last thing you want when trying to hand over hand a steering wheel is a variable radius.

Edit: I know it's just "concept car" stuff, but it gives me less confidence in the end product when something like this is even proposed.

Good grief! It looks like BMW found an old prop on an abandoned 1960s Godzilla movie set, then jammed in an electric propulsion system. I’d say by comparison my Chevy Bolt is downright stylish - and the Bolt isn’t particularly known for high style.

The Prius Prime has that Godzillia movie set piece chic too: I guess that must be the new thing in automotive design studios. Ugh.